We had left the community in the North with little more than our bedroom furniture and the clothes on our back. Whilst we had free use of the HH property, we had no income and thus, once our meagre funds had run out, no food. But we did have a car, so a few of us borrowed a neighbour's ladder and drove into the outskirts of Dublin and offered to clean windows. And it was winter, but rain and snow did not overly damp our spirits.
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| Early group photo at HH |
Back then breakfast was a bowl of porridge and one slice of bread. Period. We had only one table, not large enough for all of us to sit around. The only source of heat was a wood stove in the basement kitchen / dining room, or an open fireplace in the lounge and then only if we could find enough waste timber. Packed lunches were often a mashed potato and pickle sandwich followed by a homemade-sort-of-cheese sandwich which some privately called "sludge". You ate all you were given. On one occasion I had saved half a sandwich for later, and then forgot to eat it. When the girl on kitchen duty found the remains she gave me a very strong dressing down - how dare I waste food! And due to lack of funds and amenities we were restricted to one bath every 5 days (there were no showers back then) unless doing something like sorting out the septic system.
But all this was infinitely preferable to our experience in the North so we were happy enough. We were bound together by a common vision to survive. In due course the window cleaning business morphed into painting and decorating, and then general building work and, finally (for me), a move back into electronics. And the rest is history...
And now a new generation has grown up that knew not Joseph. Food is plentiful and the children often don't eat all they are given and no-one bats an eyelid. Well, no-one except us oldies who remember the lean times.
